


Home

by Ryokaan



Category: Homestuck
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - High School, But with more johnvris, Drug Use, F/M, Humanstuck, Smoking, drug mention, kind of, silly teens
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-04
Updated: 2016-03-19
Packaged: 2017-12-28 08:53:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/990120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ryokaan/pseuds/Ryokaan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You see that?” She pointed at the sky, above them and to their right. “That’s my constellation.” John chuckled and followed her finger, not seeing much out of the ordinary. “Nope, I don’t see a thing! I didn’t know you had a constellation, though.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Scorpio

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> EDITED MARCH 18TH 2016

"C’mon! Hurry!"

"Where are we going? It’s like three am!"

"It’ll be fun! Just follow me.”

Her messy, black hair was the only thing he could see as she eagerly dragged him through the thick trees surrounding a nearby park. Not a children’s park, it wasn’t filled with jungle bars or slides, but a park nonetheless. Barely anyone visited it, especially this late at night. During the days it was mildly busy, old folks walking their dog or rich teenagers studying on the grass near the small pond in the center. These two had no business being here. Well, Vriska didn’t. John lived in the neighborhood near by and she was out visiting him. Usually Vriska hung out in the slums of town, at skate parks or downtown. Never up here. Lately they started hanging out and, no matter how much trouble she got him into, he’d stick around. She appreciated him for that.

"You’re so sloooooooow!" She whined, nearly running through the trees. They were almost there and she was too impatient. For what? She didn’t know. Maybe she was excited to be able to run around in such a secure part of town so late, without the underlying threat of violence, or maybe she was just excited to be alone with him. Nonetheless, John could feel her excitement in his now sore left hand. They emerged from the trees, she let go of him and nearly sprinted to the pond in the middle. He stopped to rub his left hand and looked up, seeing his company quickly abscond. "Hey…! Wait!" The raven haired boy started, quickly taking off after her. The other quickly stopped, spun and flopped to the ground near the pond. He nearly sprinted past her, until she reached out and grabbed his ankle, bringing his momentum to a screeching halt. John tumbled to the ground with a confused outburst and rolled to her side,rubbing his arm. "What was that for?" Her first response was a chuckle. "I dunno, I just thought you we’re gonna run past me. Had to be careful, right?" John smiled and put his hands on the back of his head, propping himself up slightly. "I wouldn’t call that careful, but sure."

Vriska chuckled and draped he arms on her abdomen, looking up at the stars. “You see that?” She pointed at the sky, above them and to their right. “That’s my constellation.” John chuckled and followed her finger, not seeing much out of the ordinary. “Nope, I don’t see a thing! I didn’t know you had a constellation, though.” He grinned at his joke, but his grin faltered as he felt Vriska’s sharp elbow hit his side. “It’s the Scorpio constellation, dingus! I’m a Scorpio!” She said, pointing to her necklace that had nearly fallen into the depths of her hair. He nodded, understanding, even though he couldn’t actually see the necklace. John trusted her judgement. “Describe it, I can’t tell which stars you’re referring to.” His cheeky grin returned to his face as he watched Vriska point out each star and describe their relationship to the others in the constellation.

His smile grew as she attempted to describe the stories behind each star. She couldn’t exactly do them justice but he got what she was trying to say. How did this even happen? The two of them, that is. Maybe it’s because they had to sit by each other in math class, or maybe it was just what they went through together. Which, well, wasn’t much but it sure was worth something. Like the day Vriska was getting harassed by a group of boys and John stepped in. He didn’t know her well at the time; she was just the girl who sat beside him in first period and occasionally showed up. But when he saw her being backed into a corner by a group of guys he couldn’t help but step in. He got the shit beaten out of him, she was the one who ended up doing the real stepping in and punching the guy who was doing the most damage in the face. Maybe that’s how they got here. After all, John and Vriska are both from very different backgrounds. He’s a suburban raised middle class kid and she’s from the slums of town. There was a part in her life where she had to steal to get expensive things like the computer she had at home. It took her a couple of expensive necklaces and few visits to the pawn shop to get it, whereas John could just ask for a new computer from his dad. Sure he’d have to wait a little while but not as long as Vriska would have to wait. Surprisingly she didn’t despise him for that but her pride usually kept her from mentioning her family’s current financial situation.

Vriska nudging John in the side pulled him back to reality. “Did you catch that?” She asked. “Mmmm, yeah. The important bits.” Vriska laughed and looked back at the stars. “So what’s yours?”

"My what?" He responded. "Zodiac sign! Duh!" He laughed. "Oh yeah, that. I’m an Aries I think. April fourteenth would make me an Aries, right?" She nodded her head in agreement. "I dunno anything about the constellation for that one but I’ll make sure to look it up." She turned to him and grinned. He smiled back, she sure did look nice when she smiled, really smiled. Not the bitter sarcastic sneers she liked to give basically anyone else. It’s not that she’s not pretty like that, she’s always pretty, it’s more like he was seeing more of her. The part of her he wasn’t sure much other people actually got to see. The dorky side that got excited about watching stars at obscure hours in the morning. What was it now, three am? John made a mental note to check his phone the next time he got the chance. Right now could be a chance, but he didn’t want to ruin the moment. It was nice like this, laying in silence with Vriska. He was comfortable near her. That wasn’t saying much seeing as he could get comfortable near mostly anyone but he was even comfortable with the silence between them.

The same could be said for her. Though she was the most comfortable when she was around him. Her family didn’t give her the warmth or acceptance he gave her. Vriska’s older sister is a book worm, studying to get a scholarship into a university she wouldn’t be able to ever go to otherwise. Sure Vriska was happy for her but it got annoying. Maybe it was because Aranea’s studying reminded her that she still didn’t know what to do with herself and that she was pretty sure there was no way she’d make it to college.

"John?" She asked. "Yeah?" He asked in response. "What do you want to do when you get out of school?" Vriska wondered openly. She wasn’t sure exactly why she was asking this, after all they did have this year and the next left in school. "I don’t really know. I’ve never thought if it. I mean, I’m not super good at school. I’ve thought of opening up a jokes shop a bit though." Vriska smiled, that was so like him. She should have expected that. "I could see you running one of those perfectly." John grinned and looked down at her. "Thanks Vriska!" She smiled back in response and turned her head back to the stars. She brought her hand up to cover a yawn that had finally forced its way out. John smirked, glad that he wasn’t the only tired one. "Wanna go back to my house? I don’t think my dad will mind if you sleep over. He knows your house is far away and he wouldn’t want you walking home this late. We don’t have a spare room but my beds a double bed I’m sure we’ll fit! I snore though…" Vriska chuckled at his innocence. Surely he knew the implications of a girl sleeping at his house and in his bed, right? Either way she wasn’t going to deny this offer, it was a good chance to sleep and maybe even cuddle with the Egbert boy. Vriska got up and helped John up and he took her hand to lead her back to his house. ‘Damn he’s forward. Does he even realize what he’s doing?’ She thought to herself, locking their fingers together the way she was comfortable with.


	2. Scent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> EDITED MARCH 18TH 2016

As they entered John’s house he remembered to check the time. He pulled his phone out of his back pocket with his free hand and unlocked it. 3:26 the digital clock read and he shook his head, smiling. “We have to be quiet I’m pretty sure my dad’s sleeping right now.” He kicked off his shoes as she snickered quietly. “Well duh!” She responded in an almost whisper and followed his lead by also taking off her crimson converse. John led the way up the stairs and she followed, glancing around his house. She had never been inside his actual house before now, only his bedroom as her main choice of entrance was his window. The pair had been wandering around town before they made their way to the park, so she hadn't gotten the chance to enter his humble abode until now.

John closed the door to his room and went to turn his bedside lamp on. “You’re right; we will probably both fit here. But what am I supposed to wear to bed?” She asked, looking around the room. “Oh yeah, I never thought of that. You can wear one of my shirts if you want?” He offered. Vriska happily accepted his offer and immediately turned to look through his drawers without asking. The first drawer she opened was his pants drawer and she was entirely unsurprised to find a pair of Ghostbusters pajama pants. Vriska took them out and threw them towards John. “I think you should wear those.” He laughed sheepishly, quite embarrassed that she had found those but had accepted to wear them nonetheless. “Wanna find me a shirt to wear too?” To which Vriska shook her head.

“Nope! You don’t need one to sleep, do you? Anyways I hope to find the matching shirt to that and wear it, so you’d have nothing to wear!” She laughed as she went through his shirt drawer, trying to find the Ghostbusters shirt she was so sure was there. John’s cheeks flushed and he laughed, “There are so many holes in your argument but alright, I’ll just wear these.” Vriska smiled and found the shirt, just in time too. She started to kick off her pants but was interrupted. “Hey, hey! I’m still in here, y’know!” Vriska laughed and finished taking off her trousers. She turned to face him. “Your point is? Don’t guys like watching girls strip?” Vriska started taking off her shirt as he averted his gaze, his cheeks flushing red. “W-well yeah.. I guess. I-I think I’ll go change.” He sputtered out. Vriska laughed as he got up, taking a peek at her breasts that were peeking up over her bra. His head quickly turned towards the door as she noticed at his gaze. Her laugh followed him out the door as he left to change.  
By the time he was back she was in his shirt, on his bed near the wall contently browsing his laptop. “Hey! How’d you figure out my password?” She looked up from the computer screen to get a better look at him. He was lanky and slouchy but it looked as if he was developing lean muscle, though it wasn't very noticeable. “Zelda isn’t a very good password especially if ‘Favorite video game’ is the hint and you’ve got the case lying on your bedside table along with the other games in your bookshelf.” She grinned and pointed at the perpetrator who tipped her off. John laughed and sat down next to her, peeking over her shoulder.

"Tumblr, huh? I’ve got one of those too. What do you post about?" His eyes wandered to her dashboard where he saw an instagram picture of a pack of cigarettes and oh- oh! Was that porn? Vriska let out a surprised squeak and closed the laptop quickly, pushing it away. "Absolutely _nothing_ of interest!" She responded, crawling under the covers and fixing her pillow. John smirked and followed suit, getting comfortable on his side of the bed while hopefully leaving enough room for her to be comfortable. Vriska moved towards John and cuddled up against his chest, the flirtatious moment was innocent in intent, as she wanted to regulate her body heat. His eyes widened and he attempted to respond to the closeness as maturely as possible. John draped his arm over Vriska and buried his head in her hair. Her hair smelled like shampoo and smoke, though he didn’t dislike the scent at all. Vriska shared the sentiment and sniffed his chest. He smelled slightly like aftershave and axe. Not a bad combination. Usually she hated the smell of axe but he had a sparse enough amount on for it to be pleasant. “You smell nice.” She whispered, cuddling closer up against his chest. John smiled and pet her hair. “You do too, Vriska.”


	3. Sleepy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> EDITED MARCH 18TH 2016

In the morning she was gone. John awoke to the scent of Vriska on his sheets. He sat up, glancing around desperately, and sleepily, for more signs that Vriska being in his room the previous night was not a dream. It felt as if it was, due to her early departure. Something like this had never happened to John before, he had never been that intimate with a female prior to this. He was sure Vriska had been more intimate than that with males already, she was too beautiful not to. Plus, with the people she surrounded herself with, having your virginity was probably a taboo. John sighed and got up and when he looked down he was surprised to find himself in the Ghostbusters pajama pants that Vriska had suggested he wear to bed. “It happened!” John exclaimed, walking out of his room and grinning to himself. He didn’t think that there was even a sliver of a chance that this day could turn out negatively after a night as blissful as the last. However, as soon as he got down the stairs he was greeted with the sight of the clock, which promptly told him that he was late for school by two hours. John stomped his foot in frustration and swore, “Fuck!”

*** 

At nearly 5 am she awoke, cursing silently at herself for not being able to sleep through the night. Not even two hours ago had she fallen asleep, and now she was forced to get up. Vriska got out of bed and grumbled, looking around. She wasn’t surprised to find that this wasn’t her bedroom. Vriska had remembered last night all too clearly, and she was very glad that she had been able to spend it with John. However, she couldn’t linger. Tomorrow was a school day and Vriska really didn’t want to risk seeing Mr. Egbert in the morning, especially when she was only in John’s shirt and her undergarments. Vriska walked over to where she discarded her pants and put them back on, shoving the rest of her clothes into her bag, opting to steal John’s shirt instead. She picked up her shoes and stealthily exited the room. It wasn’t very odd for Vriska to sneak out of houses this late, plus her mother usually got angry when she didn’t find Vriska in bed in the morning. Her life revolved around fooling parents, and it didn’t stop at her mother. Oftentimes she had snuck in and out of her old best friends room, and she had even gotten said friend to try some casual drugs for the first time. Neither parents had any idea.  
Sneaking out onto his yard Vriska quickly walked across the street to the entrance of an alley way. They're her preferred routes during the night, and even the day. Though, it was difficult sneaking through this alley due to the fact that every garage that she passed seemed to have an automatic light. They’d flip on and Vriska would get so startled she’d jump. Cursing at the light she kicked the gravel beneath her feet and continued trekking. The busses and trains weren’t running at this time of the night, so Vriska was subjected to walking the whole way. Thankfully she lived near downtown, so she didn’t have to walk all across the city. The stroll was rather cold and a little lonely, something deep inside of her found herself missing the warmth of being cuddled against John. He was such a dork, and definitely not her type. But something about him was different. Maybe it was that he was actually kind of attractive, for a loser who had been ruthlessly picked on for what Vriska assumed to be a very long time. His glasses suited his face and framed the bright blue in his eyes. God did Vriska love those eyes. She could get lost staring in them. The colors accent each other perfectly as they slowly gradient out from the center. Blue was her favorite color, and those eyes matched her favorite exactly. It was almost as if they blew fresh air into her with every glance.  
Within forty five minutes Vriska found herself at the doorstep to her home. It was a duplex and she had the basement all to herself. Not due to her mother’s kindness, but her own determination. Vriska had refused to come up until she had gotten it all to herself, and it took three days for her mother to give in. She walked through the gate into the backyard, grabbing a hidden screwdriver out of the flowerbed and using it to pry off the screen of the basement window. She slid aside the glass and slid through, landing on her bed. Vriska took off her shoes and put them beside her bed, standing up on her mattress to fix the window. She finished and proceeded to drop down, shimmy off her jeans and crawl under the covers. Taking off her glasses Vriska reached out over to her bedside table, she deposited the spectacles and promptly turned off her morning alarm. She was thankful that math class, the class in which she sat next to John, was in the afternoon.


	4. Smoke

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> drug use and mention!!!  
> EDITED MARCH 18 2016

Vriska had woken up late, but not too late. She had made it just in time for lunch, which she usually spent at the smoker’s pit. Vriska only smoked Next Blues. Most people who attended that school smoked Next Reds like it was some sort of silent religion, but Vriska had switched because blue was her favorite color. She found them to be of better quality, and had stuck with them. Vriska started her trek to the smoker’s pit, walking past the security guard for her school and grinning at him. As soon as Vriska had passed him she dug her hand into her back pocket, grabbed out one of her packs and lit a smoke. She was still a little away from her destination, but it didn’t matter. Eventually she arrived and was greeted by her friends. Gamzee grinned and motioned to his bag, wiggling his eyebrows. Gam was Vriska’s distant friend. He was a drug dealer, one of the most renowned in the city. If you needed anything drug related he was the guy to go to. Even if Gamzee didn’t sell the drug himself, he knew who did and could even pick up for you. Vriska appreciated that, but sometimes he could be an asshole. If Gamzee was sober and out of weed, even secret stashes, he was aggressive and scary. His best friend, Karkat, could barely even calm him down if he was like that. Vriska didn’t bother talking to him if he was like that. She walked over to Gamzee, scooting past a few unfamiliar faces and grinned.

  
“What do you have for me this fine afternoon, Gam?” Her smirk widened as he bent down to reach into his bag. “The best motherfuckin’ shit on the planet! It’s called OG kush. You’ll fuckin’ fall in love with it I swear it bra’!” Rarely was she happy with Gamzee. Most of the time when she was with him she was cranky, bitchy and aggressive. But she was like that with everyone. He only saw her smile; _really smile_ , when he presented her with good drugs. He stood up and offered her a baggy, Vriska passed Gamzee her pack of cigarettes in exchange and waved goodbye before she went to go stand with her friends. They weren’t quite her friends, to her, more like popular stoners whom she made sure to get acquainted with. The first was a girl named Damara, who was arguably the leader of the group, and she was in the same grade as Vriska’s sister. Meenah, again in the same grade, was also a part of that crowd. Vriska spoke to those two the most. She did know their younger siblings, who were in her grade, but didn’t really get along with them. Neither of the older girls thought it weird to be hanging out with Vriska. Porrim, another girl whom Vriska was “friends with,” is Kanaya’s older sister. Vriska and Kanaya had known each other since grade school, and they’re still friends. Not as close as they used to be, but close enough. If either of them needed someone to talk to, they had the other. It was nice, but often not very fulfilling.

  
Meenah walked up to Vriska and smirked, leaning over to inquire, “What did Gam give you?” This time it was Vriska’s turn to smirk, and she held up the baggy. “He said it’s OG kush, sounds like a good strain. Buuuuuuuut one can never be sure, so let’s test it, yeah?” Damara grinned and pulled out her pipe, which was shaped like a penis. Everyone loved to use it, mostly because it was hilarious. It would get passed around during the lunch hour and nearly everyone who was a regular at the pit had used it. Just as Vriska had started packing a bowl, she peered over towards the school to see a familiar black haired, bespectacled boy coming her way. It was John. She wasn’t sure what he was doing out here, but him being out there wasn’t going to stop her from enjoying her lunch time blaze. She sparked the bowl, passed it down the circle and excused herself, explaining that she would be right back and better not get passed. Vriska strolled up to John and smiled. “What are you doing out here?” She questioned, motioning for him to walk and talk with her. “Well,” He started, pausing for a breath. “I came to see you.” John smiled sheepishly and chuckled a little. “You’re a loser.” She laughed and grabbed his hand, dragging him faster towards her friends. “I’m gonna introduce you to my friends. I bet you already know about them, but it’s always nice to meet new people. Broaden your horizons and all that shit hey, Egbert?” When they arrived back to the circle Vriska returned to her spot, dragging John in beside her. Meenah, Porrim and Damara glanced at him and smirked, guessing that this was the boy whom Vriska had spoken so positively about. He was starting to feel a little self-conscious, until Vriska elbowed him in the ribs and said, “Introduce yourself, idiot!”  
“Ouch- hey!” He rubbed his ribs. “Whatever. Anyways, I’m John. It’s nice to meet you all.” Vriska grinned and looked over to her friends, pointing to them each and telling John their names. They all smiled and greeted him. Damara smirked; the bowl had gotten to her. She took a toke and looked at John. “We hear your name from Vriska a lot.” Damara said, looking over to Vriska and wiggling her eyebrows. Her voice had a slight accent. John had no idea where it was from, but it sounded like it was from an Asian country. Rumors had spread around the school about Vriska and her band of misfits, and most of them said that Damara was some weird prostitute hailing from Japan. John highly doubted that she was a prostitute, but he was sure she could speak a language other than English. Peering over to Vriska’s face, John could see she was offended. Or, she looked it. The bespectacled beauty wasn't comfortable with her friends sharing her personal discussions, especially to the main subject. Her eyebrows were raised in disbelief and her mouth was slightly ajar. “Shut the fuck up.” She replied, a small scoff following her words. Damara chuckled and passed the pipe around the circle. Vriska, John and Meenah started chatting about Feferi, who’s in the same math class as them. They made some jokes at her expense, until Vriska could sense that John was starting to feel uncomfortable. She chuckled and changed the subject, just in time for the pipe to reach her. “John,” She inquired. “Have you ever tried weed?”  
He looked at her sheepishly, shaking his head. “No. But I don’t judge people who do it.” She smirked and nodded, passing the pipe to John. “Wanna try? I’ll light it for you. John’s eyes widened. “At school? I have to go to class!” Vriska laughed. “That’s exactly why I do it. Which class do you have?” He furrowed his brows in thought, trying to remember what day it was. It was day two and he had a spare, “Okay, well I don’t have a class right away. After I have gym though, and I don’t wanna be alone while I’m, like, high or whatever.”  
That was tough. Vriska had class next but if she missed it who would miss her? She barely showed up anyways. “I’ll ditch and hang out with you, plus you’ll be fine by gym. I promise.” John shrugged and brought the pipe to his lips, giving in. A smile spread across Vriska’s face as she lit the bowl. “Don’t suck too hard.” The circle erupted with laughter. She hadn’t forgotten the shape of the pipe, phallic. John inhaled the smoke and his eyes widened. This was the first time he had ever had smoke of any kind enter his lungs. It felt coarse, so he pulled away from the pipe and coughed. Vriska patted his back and grabbed the pipe. “Yeah, you’ll cough for a bit if you haven’t smoked anything before.”


	5. It Was The Weed

In the cafeteria they sat across from each other. John’s eyes were a light red and very squinty while; Vriska’s were barely tinted pink and opened to her normal width. “I should have guessed you’d be an easy bake!” She said with a chuckle, leaning her head on her arms and bringing herself closer to the bespectacled boy. A smirk spread across her face as she gazed into his glazed eyes. “You’ve got really nice eyes, Egbert. Has anyone ever told you that?” Vriska paused to prop her feet up on the chair next to him. “I’m not being sarcastic, by the way.” A large, cheesy smile spread across John’s face and his cheeks turned nearly as red as his eyes. “No one’s ever told me that. Thanks Vris. Can I call you that? I like it. It sounds less scary than you like to act. I-I mean…” He shut himself up quickly as Vriska’s smile turned into a scowl. “I’m nice to you because you’re not a piece of shit, okay? I don’t act scary. I am scary, and all these maggots better think so too.” She huffed and crossed her arms, pulling her legs in and turning her head to the side. John snickered a little bit. Vriska looked quite cute as she was pouting. Her plump bottom lip was even plumper and her russet skin showed hints of a blush in her cheek. ‘What’s she blushing for?’ John thought, leaning his head down on his hand.  
He missed and nearly hit his head on the table. “I-I didn’t… That wasn’t…” He started mumbling. “That was the…” John paused to glance around the room and lowered his voice to a mere whisper. “Weed.” Vriska burst out in laughter. She clutched her chest and had to grab the table for support as the whole cafeteria watched. John’s eyes widened and he frantically looked around the cafeteria at their audience. His cheeks flushed red, “Vriska!” He burst out. “It wasn’t even that funny!” The sentence barely hit her ears as Vriska took off her glasses, still laughing, to wipe the tears from her eye. “It was pretty funny.” She managed to make out between chuckles. “We should get out of here though; someone might notice I’m skipping with all that attention.” She winked as she got up and ushered for him to follow, walking towards the staircase. “Wait up!” John shouted after her. She didn’t slow down. He gathered his things and rushed after.  
They met pace in the upstairs hallway, going towards the staircase to the third floor. “There are no classes up here right now, and old Rusty lets me use his room when he’s not there so I can ‘study’” She winked at him. John blushed. He hoped she was flirting with all these winks, but partially believed it was just something she often did. ‘The air quotes might have been about something other than studying though… maybe something flirty!’ He thought to himself as Vriska grabbed out her keys and opened the room with one. “Did he give you a copy?” John asked. Vriska chuckled a little and put the keys back in her pocket. “I borrowed them and had a friend drive me to get a copy made during my spare. Stuff happens. He found out and now I’m allowed to use them so it all worked out in the end.” She grinned and ushered for him to enter the room. John obliged. The room was filled with computers. Instead of separate desks, there was a long table going down the middle, computers on each side, and slimmer tables all along the walls adorned with computers. He placed his stuff on the table nearest him, and glanced around for somewhere to sit. All the chairs were in a separate closet, only the teacher’s remained, in it sat Vriska.


	6. Temptations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> EDITED MARCH 18 2016

“Not fair!” John exclaimed. “That’s the only seat in the room you can’t dibs it just because you got here first!” Vriska chuckled at John and shook her head. “Tough shit!” He snickered and walked over to her, waking up the computer screen in front of her. The default computer login was on the screen. “I could log in on mine and we could watch YouTube or something, and if you sit on my lap then we can both sit. How about it?” He asked, turning around with a grin. _‘Is he flirting or just being too innocent? I can’t tell ever and it’s frustrating….’_ Vriska thought to herself as she silently got up, motioning for him to sit down. She’d take any chance to be physically intimate with the Egbert boy, but no one could ever find that out. Secretly, Vriska adored every chance they had to simply touch. The night before, at his house, was pure bliss. It had been so long since Vriska was ever that close to anyone. At least, anyone she actually felt comfortable with. She had a habit of filling the gaps with anything. During her breaks between serious relationships Vriska would often flirt, hook up and get hurt. Even if Vriska didn’t really care for the person she was seeing, it was better than nothing. After all, a full plate is better than an empty one, regardless of how you feel for what’s on the plate and how it’s going to make you feel. Sure, it was probably an unhealthy way to go about relationships, but it kept her from thinking too much about her exes and her mistakes, and that was all that mattered.  
John happily took a seat in the leather armchair, leaning back and spreading his arms, making room for Vriska to sit. She glances back at him sheepishly, making sure he’s prepared. Secretly, Vriska’s a little nervous that she’ll be too heavy. He’s a little nervous she’ll be too tall for them to be able to both watch the video comfortably. Vriska pulls her hair over her right shoulder and slowly sits down on his lap, gently scooting back so her back was touching his torso, and resting on him. John smiles to himself and scoots them both forwards, logging himself on to the computer and opening Firefox, which was the only browser installed. “Wanna watch VlogBrothers? I really like them lately.” Vriska chuckles to herself, slightly disappointed. She was hoping John’s suggestion to sit together like this would be some sort of innuendo. _‘He missed a really good chance…’_ She thought to herself. _‘Or did we…?’_ She smirked to herself. “I have a video I wanna put on.” Vriska said, leaning forwards and swatting John’s hands away from the keyboard. “It’s a song.” She says, typing ‘Jem – Come On Closer’ into the search bar. She clicks the second suggestion, as the thumbnail image is of a couple kissing. Vriska stands up, John starts to protest and she turns around and straddles him, sitting back down on his lap. Her hands lightly rest on either of his shoulders and she looks into his eyes as the music starts playing.  
“I just really enjoy this song. Thought you’d like it “ She leaned into him, interlacing her fingers together behind his neck as she did so. Vriska looked into his eyes and smiled, leaning in to kiss him. Their lips met and John moved to wrap his arms around her waist. He’d never kissed a girl before, so John was nervous and constantly thinking about how good he was doing. Vriska had kissed many and practically guided him the whole way through. He brought his hands slightly down, inching towards her butt. He wasn’t quite gutsy enough to go for it, but Vriska knew what he was after. She released one of her hands, grabbed his and placed it on her backside. “It’s okay. You can touch wherever.” Vriska whispered in a husky voice, returning to the kiss. John tentatively squeezed, testing the waters, he then moved his other hand down to grab her other cheek. He squeezed both in unison as he started getting more and more into it. Vriska was slightly grinding her hips down and pulling his shoulders towards her as she heard the doorknob move. Suddenly, Mr. Rusten was in the room shouting at Vriska.  
“I told you – studying only! This room isn’t here for you to do illicit things with boys in! Get out!” He shouted, moving aside and pointing to the doorway. Vriska sheepishly apologized and quickly exited the room while John hurried to gather his stuff and follow soon after. John quickly met pace with her and grasped her hand. As they were heading towards the stairs he asked, “Vriska, do you want to go to dinner with me or something like that?” She smiled at him as her cheeks turned slightly red. “Like a date? Are you asking me on a date Egbert?” He could hear the poorly hidden excitement in her voice. “Something like that.”


	7. Anticipation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I didn't forget about this I promise.

The next week of the teenagers lives had been spent texting, hanging out at lunch and planning their aforementioned date. Vriska was very excited for the occasion. She had never eased her way into a relationship with dating prior to this. Of course she was very experienced in the dating world, having quite the long list of broken hearts, and even broken bones, but never had they brought her on a date before asking her to be theirs. This time around Vriska was letting John set the pace instead of diving in head first and she found it to be - surprisingly enough - quite tolerable. Surely if it were anyone but the dorky Egbert Vriska would soon get bored with the pace and find someone else to satiate her needs, however he was intriguing enough to keep her interested. She couldn’t quite place exactly what intrigued her about the Egbert boy, perhaps it was his innocence, or his intelligence, or possibly his capacity to make her feel accepted even though he couldn’t quite understand her. 

Acceptance was a foreign concept to the Scorpio, her mother was rarely home enough to acknowledge her and when she was around the two argued. Her father abandoned their family shortly after she was conceived, not bothering to even stick around for her birth, and she was distant towards her elder sister Aranea, feeling inadequate in comparison. There was always the underlying pressure to be as good as her at school, as social as her, as intelligent as her. In all aspects, she was never good enough in comparison. Her mother was the main perpetrator of such blatantly insulting insinuations, comparing the two and placing Vriska yet again in Aranea’s shadow. It was refreshing for her to be in the presence of someone who knew nearly nothing about her elder sister and her accomplishments, considering her friends were all in most of Aranea’s classes, Meenah was even crushing on her, John was the only relationship she had where she didn’t feel like she was being constantly compared to her sibling.

Back in reality, Vriska’s phone buzzed against her ear, bringing her back to the Social class she had been dozing off in. She glanced around the room, checking to make sure no one’s attention had been aroused by her phone’s annoying vibration. Luckily for the Scorpio, everyone else found the class to be equally as monotonous as her, and were similarly daydreaming. Bringing her hand discretely under the table she slides the phone out of her sweater sleeve to check the message. Trollian soon lit up her screen and his blue text read;

EB: hey! i’m on my spare sorry if i’m bugging you! but i’m bored. :P wanna plan dinner?

AG: Yeah! Definitely. It’s not a 8other, 8ut if I stop responding it’s 8ecause Richmond is on to me and I have to 8e more sly.

EB: hehe ok! where do you want to go? i like italian food but ultimately it is up to you.

AG: Of course you do. I don’t mind Italian, 8ut Chinese is my favorite. Damn you Terezi. I 8 at her house too often as a kid. 

EB: i didn’t know she was chinese! that’s cool. well i knew she was asian but i thought it was rude to assume stuff like that so i just kinda left it to interpretation, y’know?

AG: You’re right, it would have 8een rude to assume. 8ut yep, Chinese! Anyways, where the fuck are we going, Eg8ert? C’mon, initi8! 

EB: alright, alright! let’s go to east side marios?

AG: Done deal! I should pay attention for a 8it, though. ::::P I’ll see you next period.

\- arachnidsGrip [AG] has ceased trolling ectoBiologist [EB] -

Vriska’s attention reverted back her class in time to learn the dates of the final exams which were creeping up slowly but surely. It was the middle of March and she wasn’t even sure she was passing all of her classes. The bell rang, cutting that thought to a halting stop and she gathered her things, excitedly exiting the classroom to hurry her way to her now favorite class, Math, where she could see her favorite dorky Egbert.


	8. Mystery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Hope is the worst of evils, for it prolongs the torments of man." - Friedrich Nietzsche

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow this is the longest chapter I've posted in a while, go me. Thanks Jess for being my Kanaya reference.

Last period had gone as usual, she sat behind John, annoying and distracting him for the entire duration of the lesson. It was no bother to the bespectacled boy, he was happy to listen to her talk about anything. However, it was a hindrance to the teacher, who had been grimacing at and shushing Vriska for the entirety of the lesson. Thankfully it was last period and the bell rang, dismissing the adolescents from the critical gaze of their strict teacher. The two hurried out into the hallway and grabbed eachother’s hands as soon as they both had just exited the doorway. Walking down the hallway together they paused shortly at John’s locker, just long enough to take his stuff and put his books away. Vriska leans against the locker beside his, chewing gum and browsing her phone impatiently. They continued down the hallway, gently merging into the flow of human traffic working it’s collective way towards the main staircase. Vriska’s locker was a classroom away from the staircase and they skillfully wormed their way out of the rush of people. Sliding her math books onto the top and grabbing a small makeup bag out of the middle shelf of her locker, her pit stop had lasted only a moment, drastically shorter than the time spent at John’s locker. She smirked at him as she closed her lock with her left hand, almost silently saying this to him. The two then merged their way back into the current of people heading towards the front doors, holding hands yet again. Once out into the fresh air they soon had to make their goodbyes, as they both took different buses to their separate residences. Looking up at John whilst holding both his hands, she quickly leans in to kiss him. Their lips nervously met and his whole body stiffened with surprise.

‘ _Public affection!_ ’ Is his only thought, his lips softly moving along with hers as his eyes closed. Vriska wraps her arms around his shoulders, pulling herself into his chest whilst the bespectacled boy’s hands made their way to her waist. The kiss was over all too soon and she soon pulled away, playfully pointing to her now smudged blue lipstick and winking as she turned and walked away to her bus. A sheepish grin crossed his features as he watched her depart, softly wiping her lipstick off of himself he turns to go catch his bus, on which the doors were slowly starting to close. He broke into a sprint, making it once they were fully closed and slamming his hands onto the faux glass. The bus driver jumped with alarm, looking over to see John gasping for breath and just barely hearing him say, “Please open the doors!” Compliant, he does and John boards, quickly flashing him his pass and scurrying to the back where he sees his three best friends, and Rose’s girlfriend, seated. Jade, Dave, Rose and Kanaya all wave in unison as John squishes his way into the only empty seat directly across from the quartet, his face flushed crimson from both the embarrassment and physical exertion.

“Nice snag, bro.” Dave says, obviously congratulating John on the very public kiss between him and Vriska. His face flushes and even deeper crimson as Jade and Rose laugh at his silent response. Kanaya, however, grabs Rose’s hand tighter and looks off to the side, her lips pursed. ‘ _What’s up with her?_ ’ John thinks to himself, but prefers not to comment on it. Dave raises his hand for a high five, which John returns with earnest however afterwards neither remove their hands.

“But watch out,” The blonde continued, his hand weighing down heavily on John’s. “Vriska’s kind of a mess, like, she’s gotten into some shit. It’s not really my place to talk about it and all but I’ve heard some of hefty rumors. Well, not rumors I know the sources personally, John, and they are reputable. As reputable as my fine ass is and you know that shit speaks for itself.”

“What kind of rumors?” John asked, his lips pursing as he removed his hand from Dave’s and crossed his arms.

“Well, I wouldn’t expect you to know about her past relationships and shit seeing as you went to that obscure private school before this year but she was in a relationship with the star football player, Tavros, and shit went seriously sour.” Dave said, staring directly at John. Though you couldn’t visually tell just where his crimson eyes were directed from underneath the aviators, his gaze was penetrable.

“Tavros…?” John started, confused. “But… He’s in a wheelchair, how could he have been a football player?”

“That’s how shit went seriously sour bro.”

“Wait, what? You mean to tell me Vriska was involved in that? No fucking way!” John said defensively, now sitting up straight.

“Yes fucking way John, and there’s only one fucking way like those goddamn foreboding street signs are always saying. You know she’s a partier, right? Well she was doing a bunch of dru-” He started his rant, however Kanaya swiftly cut him off.

“Contrary to your beliefs, she was not indulging in drugs of the hallucinogenic variety. She had stopped with the heavy usage however she had plenty to drink.” Kanaya said, taking the spotlight swiftly from Dave. “You hardly know her, all of the evidence is at best hearsay and abruptly slanderous. Though her and I were admittedly estranged I am well aware of and involved in her life." Her story started adamantly with that, her claim of being a honorable witness. 

"Whilst it is not my place to divulge and feed you someone else's past I rather that than allow Dave to do the horrible injustice of misleading you. Vriska's heavy usage had stopped about a month prior to the incident. I know because I was very proud of her for knocking said bad habit. Though, Vriska doesn't often provide much to be proud of. Both her and Tavros had a great deal of alcohol that night, celebrating for the finals which were soon approaching. The two knew that with Tavros on the team Malument was going to the top and take the win. Celebrating before the game for an anticipated win had become a devilish habit of theirs. This time, they hadn't made arrangements with a designated driver, and Vriska ignorantly enough took the wheel. She had ingested about half a bottle of rum, and it showed in the way she backed out, grazing multiple cars as she pulled onto the road. However the two didn't have a care in the world, and kept on. They inevitably ran a red light, turning left at a four way intersection. 

Vriska's head was thrown into the window, and her left eye was irreparably blinded as a result. She now wears a quasi-integrated prosthetic glass eye. It moves fine, though it is noticeably fake. Her left arm and leg were broken and she was in a coma for a month following the collision. Tavros seemed to have got the worst of the damage that night. As you noted he is paralyzed fully from the waist down. He was also in a coma, but only for a week. The collision and guilt they both faced following caused them to drift apart. They would not talk about it with each other. The were not a very good match, he had not even attempted to visit her during her month of prolonged unconsciousness. Obviously they're still not on the best terms. Vriska adamantly blames herself, while Tavros guiltily blames himself."

John was stunned, everything he knew about Vriska had been flipped upside down. ' _Why didn't she tell me about this before? When was she planning to? Does she still do that now, am I at risk? What am I getting myself into?_ ' Thoughts flooded through his head wildly as he pulled out his phone and opened up Pesterchum.

"Man, I'm really surprised you didn't notice her creepy glass eye before now. You're supposed to look into girl's eye's, Egbert, hasn't anyone taught you that?" Dave said, a half-assed attempt to lighten the mood.

\- ectoBiologist [EB] has started pestering arachnidsGrip [AG] -

EB: vriska? can you come over tonight, like sneak in? i wanna talk to you in person about some stuff i heard...

AG: What stuff????????

EB: just, stuff! i want to clear it up in person, okay?

AG: Okay... I hope it's not 8ad! I've done some shitty stuff in the past, I know... 8ut It's hard to make up for that kind of shit!

AG: I'd understand if you don't wanna go on that d8 anymore, Eg8ert, if it's what I think........

AG: Anyways, I'll see you tonight. 

EB: later, vriska.

\- ectoBiologist [EB] has ceased pestering arachnidsGrip [AG] -


End file.
